Ousting Taliban not goal, Bush says

September 22, 2001|By John Diamond, Washington Bureau. Bob Kemper of the Tribune's Washington bureau and Tribune news services contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday rejected the Taliban regime's demand for proof that Osama bin Laden ordered last week's terrorist attacks as the United States prepared military options that would make locating and neutralizing the Saudi terrorist and his associates the first priority.

Use of military force, beyond the immediate bin Laden standoff, will likely be slow in coming, limited in objective and could well come only after the administration secured support and approval from the international community, senior administration officials said.

Speaking one day after Bush's direct threat that unless Afghanistan's Taliban regime handed over bin Laden and his associates the government would "share their fate," White House officials emphasized that their main objective was the radical Saudi millionaire, his network and terrorism, not the overthrow of any government.

"The president's goal is not the removal of anyone from power; the president's goal is the cessation of terrorism," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "This is not a question of who occupies what slot in any one regime or government. This is a question of how to protect the free world and freedom from the terrorist threat."

The White House remarks came as Bush tried to leave himself room to maneuver and fortify the international coalition the U.S. is trying to build against bin Laden and other terrorists with a global reach. Diplomatic activity stepped up Friday as the State Department prepared to lift sanctions against India and Pakistan imposed after nuclear tests in 1998, a reward for those nations' support of the U.S. in its confrontation with bin Laden.

"We have to give something to them, and I think the sanctions have outlived their usefulness," said Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) chairman of the House International Relations Committee.

Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and agreed that U.S. and Chinese intelligence experts would meet next week to discuss cooperating against terrorism. But Powell said he did not ask Tang how China would react to an American military operation against bin Laden, who is believed to be in hiding in Afghanistan, near China's borders.

In Brussels, European Union leaders met and declared that the U.S. has the "legitimate" right to strike back at those who attacked American cities and at the states that aid them. European heads of state reiterated their pledges of help and agreed to strengthen anti-terrorism efforts on their own soil.

Even as U.S. forces deployed to the Mideast and Central Asia for possible strikes against strongholds of bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist organization, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld circulated "talking points" to administration officials cautioning against overemphasis on military options.

`It will take time, pressure'

"No terrorist or terrorist network such as Al Qaeda is going to be dealt with exclusively with cruise missiles and bombs," Rumsfeld wrote in the internal document. "It will take time and pressure on the countries that harbor them for the foes of terrorism to be successful."

The president and his senior national security aides tried to steel the nation for a long, difficult struggle against terrorism as United Nations agencies rushed emergency relief aid to Afghanistan's neighbors, anticipating a flood of refugees fleeing the country after U.S. threats of military action against the Taliban. Closed borders and the absence of international aid groups prevented food and other emergency assistance from reaching Afghanistan, where millions face starvation with the onset of winter just weeks away.

In neighboring Pakistan, thousands of protesters demonstrated against their government's decision to back the U.S. in its anti-terror campaign, and many Muslims in the region and across the Middle East vowed to retaliate against the U.S. if it attacks Afghanistan.

In Washington, officials cautioned Americans to remain vigilant against possible new terrorist attacks. "I don't want to scare people or put fear in the minds of people, but this is very serious business. It's not a matter of if, but when," said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) after a Capitol Hill intelligence briefing.

Bush's address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday night, crafted by a team of White House speechwriters led by Michael Gerson, drew wide praise across the U.S. and from allies for its tough line on terrorists and the states that sponsor them. But the speech contained carefully worded passages that underscore the importance Bush gives to keeping options open and not committing the nation to more than it can handle.